it's foot foolish to think anyone wants the legacy to be they drove us off the fiscal cliff. we're in the political dance now. we've seen this time and time again. there is still three weeks for a deal to be cut. the problem is that the white house threw down a heavy marker yesterday. we'll have to see if they're willing to compromise. it's got to be compromise on both sides. >> that's right. the marker they threw down, kevin, is the white house says actual tax rates, the top tax rate, 35%, has to go up for the rich. and that limiting deductions won't be enough to get a deal. now you wrote in the atlantic this week that despite that there is a way around this for republicans who don't want to incur the wrath of norquist or as mark suggests, voters. how? >> right. so the grover norquist pledge is actually incredibly misunderstood. it's based on what washington budgeting organizations call the current law baseline. what that means is that what's scheduled to go into effect already is baked into the cake. and because the bush tax cuts are expiring provisions that were voted for